This year the Ipswich Kindergarten Association celebrates a milestone, after being established for 75 years. The Ipswich Kindergarten Association was formed in 1937 after the establishment of Ipswich’s first kindy behind the Congregational Church Sunday School Hall in 1923. The kindy was owned and directed by a Mrs Olive Hancock a member of the church and one of the first kindergarten teachers that was trained within Queensland.
In 1936 Marjorie Whyte, the then daughter of the Minister of the Congregational Church, bought the rights to the private kindergarten for 34 pounds. Ms. Whyte was interested in forming a committee of women who would assist in the development of the Ipswich kindergarten into something more, and in 1937 a meeting was held to present the idea to the Ipswich community. Several months later it was decided that Ms. Whyte would become the director of the committee which would be formed to control the school and its development.
On the opening day of 1938 there were only three children enrolled in the kindergarten, with fees being approximately two shillings a week (the equivalent of 20 cents), plus there was a deduction if you had more than one child enrolled at one time. In 1940 the number of children attending the Ipswich kindy had risen substantially and extra people were employed to cope with this increase. The outbreak of World War two caused the closure of many schools in the Ipswich area including the Ipswich Kindergarten which was closed from 1944 – 1946.
During this time the Ipswich Kindergarten Association held residence at the Central Congregational Church Hall in East street until 1946 when they were moved to the Scout Hall on Milford Street for a period of two years. In 1948 the Ipswich City Council granted the Ipswich Kindergarten Association land where a new and improved building was erected for 2293 pounds in the Queens Park grounds where the kindy still resides today.
The opening of the Milford Street Kindergarten, Ipswich 1947 – Image courtesy of Picture Ipswich